Dead ever After re-write (Sookie and Eric)
by gsamoni
Summary: CH HEA didn't fulfill our dreams. Therefore, in order to find closure I am going to rewrite several parts of Deadlocked to fix the story and the ending. Not everything will be rewritten, just the main points to make Sookie behave more into character and to make our Viking to keep his Alpha role (a position he deserves). The way the story should have ended, but didn't.
1. Chapter 1

As we know, CH HEA didn't fulfill our dreams. It didn't fulfill mine for sure. Therefore, in order to find closure and to please many friends who are struggling with the same problem, I am going to re-do the ending. There are several things that I think need to be addressed in order for the ending to feel natural.

One of them is to rewrite several parts of Deadlocked where CH opens the doors for her horrible ending. Not everything will be rewritten, just the main points to make Sookie behave more into character (less bitch and more likable) and to make our Viking to keep his Alpha role (a position he deserves). No matter what happens, this story is for Sookie and Eric. The way the story should have ended, but didn't.

I am going to do my best to tell the story in Sookie's POV. I really hope that I can give her justice, but I am a little bit intimidated because I can't do the Southern accent. So please, understand that it won't be perfect. However, the storyline will be fun and driving us towards our happy ending.

I might add some chapters with Eric's POV… just for fun. I think that we should get a glimpse of what goes on inside his mind… and heart!

I don't know how many chapters will take to reach the HEA ending. However, I promise to make the journey fun and entertaining. After all, this is what it's all about… to have fun!

Feel free to write reviews and to comment on the chapters. I want to know how is my writing doing since this is the first time I do Fanfiction. Thank you in advanced for your eternal support.

**Deadlocked re-write**

Chapter 1- 5

Summary: Sookie went to Hooligans for Ladies Only Night. She saw a lot fairies working there. In the morning Niall comes to visit her. After a talk between Niall, Dermot, Sookie and Claude about who put the spell on Dermot, Niall takes Claude to Faery to solve the mystery. Dermot is making renovations to the attic turning it into a bedroom. Mustapha Khan, Eric's daytime guy, visits Sookie with a message from Eric, another one from Pam, and another one from him. I am posting the scene because it is an important message for Sookie and for the story:

"_Felipe de Castro is coming to Shreveport to talk about the disappearance of his buddy Victor."_

"_Oh, shit," I said. _

"_Say it, Sookie. We're in for it now." He smiled. _

"_That's it? That's the message?" _

"_Eric would like you to come to Shreveport tomorrow night to greet Felipe." _

"_I won't see Eric till then?" I could feel my face narrow in a suspicious squint. That didn't suit me at all. The thin cracks in our relationship would only spread wider if we didn't get to spend time together. _

"_He has to get ready," Mustapha said, shrugging. "I don't know if he got to clean out his bathroom cabinets or change the sheets or what. 'Has to get ready' is what he told me."_

"_Right," I said. "And that's it? That's the whole message?" _

_Mustapha hesitated. "I got some other things to tell you, not from Eric. Two things." He took off his sunglasses. His chocolate-chip eyes were downcast; Mustapha was not a happy camper._

"_Okay, I'm ready." I was biting the inside of my mouth. If Mustapha could be stoical about Felipe's impending visit, I could, too. We were at great risk. We had both participated in the plan to trap Victor Madden, regent of the state of Louisiana, put in place by King Felipe of Nevada, and we had helped to kill Victor and his entourage. What was more, I was pretty sure Felipe de Castro suspected all this with a high degree of certainty. _

"_First thing, from Pam."_ _"She says, 'Tell Sookie that this is the hard time that will show what she is made of.'" _

_I cocked my head. "No advice other than that? Not too helpful. I figured as much." I'd pretty much assumed Felipe's post-Victor visit would be a very touchy one. But that Pam would warn me … seemed a bit odd. _

"_Harder than you know," Mustapha said intently. _

_I stared at him, waiting for more. _

_Maddeningly, he did not elaborate. I knew better than to ask him to. "The other thing is from me," he continued. _

_Only the fact that I'd had to control my face all my life kept me from giving him major Doubtful. Mustapha? Giving me advice? _

"_I'm a lone wolf," he said, by way of preamble. _

_I nodded. He hadn't affiliated with the Shreveport werewolves, all members of the Long Tooth pack. _

"_When I first blew into Shreveport, I looked into joining. I even went to a pack gathering," Mustapha said. _

_It was the first chink I'd seen in his "I'm badass and I don't need anyone" armor. I was startled that he'd even tried. Alcide Herveaux, the packleader in Shreveport, would have been glad to gain a strong wolf like Mustapha. _

"_The reason I didn't even consider it is because of Jannalynn," he said. Jannalynn Hopper was Alcide's enforcer. She was about as big as a wasp, and she had the same nature. _

"_Because Jannalynn's really tough and she would challenge someone as alpha as you?" I said._

_He inclined his head. "She wouldn't leave me standing. She would push and push until we fought." _

"_You think she could win? Over you." I made it not quite a question. With Mustapha's size advantage and his greater experience, I could not fathom why Mustapha had a doubt he would be the victor. _

_He inclined his head again. "I do. Her spirit is big." _

"_She likes to feel in charge? She has to be the baddest bitch in the fight?" _

"_I was in Hair of the Dog yesterday, early evening. Just to spend some time with the other Weres after I got through working for the vamps, get the smell of Eric's house out of my nose … though we got a deader hanging around at the Hair, lately. Anyway, Jannalynn was talking to Alcide while she was serving him a drink. She knows you loaned Merlotte some money to keep his bar afloat." _

_I shifted in my chair, suddenly uneasy. "I'm a little surprised Sam told her, but I didn't ask him to keep it a secret." _

"_I'm not so sure he did tell her. Jannalynn's not above snooping when she thinks she ought to know something, and she doesn't even think of it as snooping. She thinks of it as fact-gathering. Here's the bottom line: Don't cross that bitch. You're on the borderline with her." _

"_Because I helped Sam? That doesn't make any sense." Though my sinking heart told me it did. _

"_Doesn't need to. You helped him when she couldn't. And that galls her. You ever seen her when she's got a mad on?" _

"_I've seen her in action." Sam always liked such challenging women. I could only conclude that she saved her softer, gentler side for him. _

"_Then you know how she treats people she sees as a threat." _

"_I wonder why Alcide hasn't picked Jannalynn as his first lady, or whatever the term is," I said, just to veer away from the subject for a moment. "He made her pack enforcer, but I would have thought he would pick the strongest female wolf as his mate." _

"_She'd love that," Mustapha said. "I can smell that on her. He can smell that on her. But she don't love Alcide, and he don't love her. She's not the kind of woman he likes. He likes women his own age, women with a little curve to 'em. Women like you." _

"_But she told Alcide …" I had to stop, because I was hopelessly confused. "A few weeks ago, she advised Alcide he should try to seduce me," I said awkwardly. "She thought I would be an asset to the pack." _

"_If you're confused, think how Jannalynn's feeling." Mustapha's face might have been carved in stone. "She's got a relationship with Sam, but you were able to save him when she wasn't. She halfway wants Alcide, but she knows he wanted you, too. She's big in the pack, and she knows you have pack protection. You know what she can do to people who don't."_

After the conversation with Mustapha, she goes to Merlottes to work and Jannalynn found Sookie and Sam working on the business taxes. Jannalynn was furious/jealous. Tara eats at Merlottes and as always complaining for her weight gain. Jason wants to propose to Michelle. Sookie goes home and gets ready to see Eric and Felipe de Castro. Sookie meets them at Eric's house where they are having a party. Felipe de Castro's guests are destroying Eric's house. Sookie found Eric feeding from a were female with fairy blood in her system. The woman leaves and Sookie is upset with Eric. The Were-woman is found dead in the front yard. Mustapha goes MIA. They are taken to the police station for interrogation. They return to Eric's house. Sookie spends the night in Eric's house. Eric apologizes to Sookie for drinking from the other woman. Sookie and Eric have sex. Next day Sookie goes to his house and Mustapha was waiting for her. There she learns that Warren is missing and whoever is holding him then that person is forcing Mustapha to go against Eric.

**Well, it seems I summarized chapters 1-5 (121 pages) in about 1 page long. Now, I am going to re-write chapter 6 because I think this is where a few things happened that started setting things to go the wrong way (and Sookie was an eternal bitch). Anyway, enjoy it. **

**Chapter 6**

It was dark when the phone finally rang and it was Eric.

"Sookie, I'm on my way over to see you," Eric said.

How can I disregard the fact that he drank from that woman. It was painful and uncomfortable to remember the incident. "No," I said. "I don't think so."

There was a little silence and I think that my answer took Eric by surprise. "Is this a punishment for last night?" he asked.

"No, it is not. But I don't know how I feel about that. I can't stop feeling contradicting feelings about the incident and I prefer not to talk about it tonight," I told him.

"You really don't want to see me tonight?" he asked with uncertainty in her voice.

"No, not tonight. Is Bill still the Area Five investigator?" I asked changing the subject.

"He is," he replied cautious.

"Then he needs to get to work, don't you think? He could take Heidi with him, since she's supposed to be such a great tracker. How did Kym Rowe get past the guard? Unless someone bribed the guard—and it was a guy I didn't know—it's possible Kym came up from the gate at the back of your yard, right? Maybe Bill and Heidi could discover how she got there. Plus, I need to talk to Bill about something."

"That's a good idea." He was thawing out. "None of my vampires would say a word," Eric said with absolute certainty. "Colton is still in the area, but Immanuel has gone to the West Coast. You would not tell anyone. Mustapha's friend Warren, who acted as our cleanup man …"

"None of them would speak. Warren wouldn't say boo to a goose if Mustapha didn't tell him to." I thought so, anyway. I didn't really know much about Warren, who wasn't big on talking. I was just about to tell Eric that Mustapha had appeared in my kitchen when he continued, "We should have taken care of Colton and Immanuel."

Did Eric mean the vampires should have killed the human survivors of that vicious brawl, even if they'd fought on Eric's side? Or was he simply implying he should have done a preemptive glamour, erasing their memories? I closed my eyes. I thought of my own humanity and vulnerability, though glamouring had never worked on me. However, after everything that has happened to me since I met the first vampire I learned to sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.

Time to change the subject to an important one that is keeping me mentally exhausted. "Do you know why Felipe is really here? Cause you know it's not because of Victor, or at least only partly because of Victor."

"Don't discount his need to discipline me for Victor's death," Eric said. "But you're right, he's got another agenda. I realized that last night." Eric grew more guarded. "Or at least, I became surer of it."

"So you already know this secret agenda, and you're not telling me."

"We'll talk about it later."

Of course I should have told him about Mustapha's visit, but I lost my patience. "Why is everything has to be later? I am tired of the vampire politics and the secrets that they hide." I hung up without giving him to opportunity to reply. I looked down at my hand, a bit stunned at my own action. Why is it that everybody's agenda doesn't include keeping Sookie safe? Maybe that is selfish of me, but right now Felipe's presence didn't give me good vibes. I wondered about Felipe's real reason to be here and I cringed. Nothing good can come up from that King.

I sat down in the living room replaying my conversation with Eric. I wanted to see him but I wasn't going to give up this time. I was upset with Eric, but I was more upset with Felipe's situation. I grabbed today's newspaper hopping it would help me to put my thoughts elsewhere. I wished I had a cup of coffee with me to read it, but I didn't feel like making any at this moment. I gasped at the front page news. There I discovered that Kym Rowe had been twenty-four, she had been from Minden, and (after looking at the picture of her accompanying the main article) I wasn't surprised to read she'd recently been fired from her job as an exotic dancer for assaulting a customer.

The cause of Kym's death, according to the paper, had been a broken neck. Quick, quiet, requiring only strength and the element of surprise. That was why, even in that quiet neighborhood, no one had heard her scream … not even Bill, with his vampire hearing. Or so he said. Kym Rowe, I discovered, had good reason to have a short temper. "Rowe was desperate for money. 'She was behind on her car payments, and her landlord was about to evict her,' Oscar Rowe, the victim's father, said. 'She was doing crazy things to earn money.'" That was the short and sad story of the life of Kym Rowe. One thing stood out: She'd had nothing to lose. Of course, much was made of the fact that she'd been found on the lawn of a "prominent vampire businessman and his party guests." Eric and his uninvited company were in for a hard time with the publicity machine. I turned to the inside page where the article continued. Kym's grieving parents were posed clutching a Bible and a bouquet of daisies, which they said had been Kym's favorite flower. Though I chided myself for my snobbishness, they didn't look like much.

Before I could finish the article, the phone rang. I jumped about a foot. I'd been wondering if Eric would call back after he'd had enough time to get really angry with me, but the caller ID let me know my caller was Sam. "Hey," I said.

"What happened last night?" he asked. "I just watched the Shreveport news."

I gave him the condense version of the events and once again I remembered Eric drinking from that were. I didn't want to give him too many details because that was really Eric's and mine private life.

"Do you know who did it?"

"No," I said. "If I knew who'd killed her, I'd have told the cops last night."

"Even if the killer was Eric?"

That stopped me dead. "It would depend on the circumstances. Would you turn in Jannalynn?"

There was a long silence. "It would depend on the circumstances," he said.

"Jannalynn … she's great, but I feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew some days."

To say the least but I didn't dare to say it out loud. It surprised me that Sam was dating women that were rough and with masculine features. Maybe he liked rough sex. Maybe he was into BDSM. I shook my head to remove those thoughts. I really didn't want to have that image in my mind. I rather have the nice and sweet Sam image. Out of the sudden I decided to ask a question that has been bugging me for a long time now, "Do you tell her everything, Sam?" I wondered how much did other couples share. I needed some feedback. I'd had so few relationships. Shouldn't Eric and I confide on each other for everything? Or would that be a bad thing?

He hesitated. "No," he said, finally. "I don't. We haven't gotten to the 'I love you' stage yet, but even if we had … no."

"So it's not just me and Eric," I said confused. "Between us, Sam, I feel like Eric's not telling me some pretty important stuff."

"What about the things you aren't telling him? Are those things important?"

"Yeah, they are. Important, but not … personal." I hadn't told Eric about Hunter, my little second cousin, being telepathic like me. I hadn't told Eric how worried I was about the concentration of the fae in Monroe. I'd tried filling Eric in on the fae situation, but it had been easy to tell that the politics of his own kind were at the top of his list these days. I couldn't blame him for that.

"Sookie, you're okay, right? I don't know what you mean by 'not personal.' Everything that happens to you is personal."

"By personal stuff … things that are only about me and him. Like if I wasn't happy with the way he treated me, or if I thought he needed to be around more, or if he'd go with me to Jason and Michele's wedding. If I needed to talk about any of those things, I would. But I know pieces of information that affect other people, and I don't always tell him those things, because he has such a different perspective." I stopped listening to my own words and immediately I realized that I was voicing the things I wanted, but didn't have with Eric. I wanted him to go with me to Jason and Michele's wedding, I wanted for him to do human things with me, I wanted him to separate himself from the vampire politics for a while. Yet, I knew that with Felipe de Castro around, it would be difficult for me to get those things. What if he was not longer around? I smiled at the thought.

"You know you can tell me, if you need to talk about something. You know I'll listen and I won't tell anyone." Sam said bringing me back from my thoughts.

"I know that, Sam. You're the best friend I've got. And I hope you know I'm always ready to listen to anything you need to talk about. After all, that is what friends are for. Besides, I'm sure Eric and I will get back to normal when Felipe leaves … when the boat stops rocking."

"Maybe you will," he said. After we said the polite words we hanged up.

Dermot came in about half an hour later. Normally, my great-uncle was at least content in a low-keyed way. Tonight he wasn't even approaching happiness; he was actively worried.

"What's up?"

"Claude's absence is making them restless."

"Because he has such charisma that he keeps them all in line." Claude had as much personality as a turnip.

"Yes," Dermot said simply. "I know you don't feel Claude's charm. But when he's among his own people, they can see his strength and purpose."

"We're talking about the guy who chose to stay among humans rather than go into Faery when it was closing." I just didn't get it.

"Claude's told me two things about that," Dermot said, going to the refrigerator and pouring a glass of milk. "He said he knew the portals were closing, but he felt he couldn't leave without tying up his business affairs here, and he never imagined that Niall would really stick to his decision. On the whole, the gamble of staying here appealed to him more. But he told the others, all the assortment of fae at Hooligans, that Niall denied him entry."

I noticed that Dermot was admitting, though not explicitly, that he didn't have the high opinion of Claude that the other fae did. "Why'd he tell two stories? Which do you believe?"

Dermot shrugged. "Maybe both are true, more or less," he said. "I think Claude was reluctant to leave this human world. He's amassing money that could be working for him here while he's in Faery. He's been talking with lawyers about setting up a trust, or something like that. It would continue to earn him money even if he vanishes. That way if he wants to return to this world, he will be a rich man and able to live as he wants. And there are advantages, even when you live in Faery, to having financial assets here."

"Like what?"

Dermot looked surprised.

"Like having the ability to buy things that aren't available in Faery," he said. "Like having the ability to make trips out here occasionally, to indulge in things that aren't … acceptable in our own world."

"Like what?" I asked again.

"Some of us like human drugs and sex," Dermot said. "And some of us like human music very much. And human scientists have thought of some wonderful products that are very useful in our world."

"But why can't you have it there? Don't you have those products there?

"We have products made over there yes, but we also like humans' products and so far Niall doesn't allow us to bring them there." The more I heard, the more curious I felt. I wonder if I would ever be able to see it at least once. Would a part-human be allowed in Faery? Maybe I could ask my great grandfather next time I see him.

"Why do you think Claude went with Niall?" I asked instead.

"Niall is fond of you, so I think he wants to become secure in Niall's affection," Dermot said promptly. "And I think he wants to remind the rest of the fae world what an enticing option they have cut off, since Niall closed the portals and guards them so rigorously. But I don't know." He shrugged. "I'm his kinsman, so he has to shelter me and defend me. But he doesn't have to confide in me."

"So he's still trying to have it both ways," I said.

"Yes," Dermot said simply. "That's Claude."

Just then there was a knock at the back door. Dermot raised his head and sniffed. "There's one of the troubles," he said, and went to answer it. Our caller was Bellenos the elf, whose needlelike inch-long teeth were terrifying when he smiled. I remember how he'd grinned when he'd presented me with the head of my enemy. Our new visitor had bloody hands. "What you been doing, Bellenos?" I asked, proud that my voice was so even.

"I've been hunting, my fair one," he said, and gave me that scary grin. "I was complaining of being restless, and Dermot gave me leave to hunt in your woods. I had a wonderful time."

"What did you catch?"

"A deer," he said. "A full-grown doe."

It wasn't hunting season, but I didn't mind them hunting a few ones. "Then I'm glad you took the opportunity," I said.

"Some of the rest of us would like to hunt here, too," the elf suggested.

"I am not sure if that would be a good idea, but I'm willing to give it a try. Long as that hunting was restricted to deer, and you stayed on my land. I don't want to get the neighbors' attention."

"My kindred are getting restless," Bellenos said, in what was not quite a warning. "We would all like to get out of the club. We would all like to visit your woods, experience the peacefulness of your house."

I wonder why they are feeling so peaceful in my land. Would it be because of the portal or because of the cluviel dor? A deep uneasiness feeling took over my chest. "I understand," I said, and offered him water. When he nodded, I poured a glass full of cold water from the pitcher in the refrigerator. He gulped it all down. Hunting deer in the dark with your bare hands was apparently thirsty work. After the water was gone, Bellenos asked if he could clean up, and I pointed out the hall bathroom and put out a towel.

When the door was safely shut, I gave Dermot a look.

"I know you have reason to be angry, Sookie," he said. He came closer and dropped his voice. "Bellenos is the most dangerous. If he gets tense and bored, bad things will happen. It seemed wisest to give him a safety valve. I hope you'll forgive me for granting him permission, since we're family." Dermot's big blue eyes, so like my brother's, looked at me imploringly.

I wasn't too pleased, but Dermot's reasoning made all kinds of sense. The image of a repressed elf finally cutting loose on the people of Monroe was a picture I didn't want in my head. "I get what you're saying," I told him. "But if you ever want to let someone run free on my land again, check with me first. Remember that Bill lives across the cemetery and there are other vampires that usually come to visit uninvited. I don't want to have to explain to them the fairies presence or having to deal with a vampire accidentally draining one of them."

"I will," he said. I wasn't convinced. Dermot was a lot of good things, but I couldn't see him as a strong or decisive leader. "They're tired of waiting," he said hopelessly. "I guess I am, too."

"Would you leave for Faery?" I asked. I tried a smile. "Can you live without your HGTV and your Cheetos?" I wanted to ask my great-uncle if he could live without me, but that would be too pitiful. We'd gotten along without each other just fine for most of our lives—but there was no denying I was fond of him.

"I love you," he said unexpectedly. "The happiest I've been in years is the time I've spent here with you, in this house. It's so peaceful."

This was the second time in a few minutes that a fae had said my house was peaceful. My conscience stirred inside me. The clavier dor's magic must be stronger that I thought.

Bellenos came out wrapped in a towel, holding out his bloody clothes. His pallor—and his freckles—extended all over. "Sister, can you wash these in your machine? I had only planned to scrub my face and arms, but I thought how good it would feel to be completely clean."

As I took the stained clothes to the washer on the back porch, I was glad I'd taken Mr. Cataliades's warning to heart. If the cluviel dor had such influence when they couldn't even see it, didn't even know it was present, how much more would they want to touch it if they could? What would they do if I wouldn't give it up? A shiver ran down my body just contemplating the idea.

After I'd started Bellenos's clothes on the cold cycle, I remained on the back porch looking out through the screen door at the night. The bugs were in full symphony. It was almost noisy enough to be annoying. I was glad all over again for the blessed invention of air-conditioning, even if the house was cooled by window units instead of central heat and air. I could close and lock my windows at night and keep the drone of the insects at bay … and feel safe against the appearance of other things. One of those other things was strolling out of the trees right now.

"Hey, Bill," I said quietly.

"Sookie." He moved closer. Even when I knew he was there, I couldn't hear him. Vampires can be so quiet.

"I guess you heard my visitor?" I said.

"Yes. Found what was left of the deer. Elf?"

"Bellenos. You've met him."

"The guy who took the heads? Yeah. Dermot is home?"

"He's here."

"You really shouldn't be alone with Bellenos." Bill, a serious guy, sounded very grim indeed when he said this.

"I don't intend to be. Dermot will take him back to Monroe, either tonight or tomorrow morning. Eric call you tonight?" Even though I wasn't intending to be alone with Bellenos, Bill's interrogation was annoying.

"Yeah. I'm going to Shreveport in an hour. I'm meeting Heidi there." He hesitated for a moment. "I understand she still has a living relative."

"Her son in Nevada. He's a drug addict, I believe."

"To have living flesh of your flesh. It must be a very strange feeling to be able to talk to your immediate kin. This age of vampires is so much different from that when I was turned. I can hardly believe that I now know my great-great-great-grandchildren."

Bill's maker had ordered him out of Bon Temps and even out of the state for a long time, so he wouldn't be recognized by his wife and children or his local acquaintances. That was the old way. Nowadays, things were different.

I noted the wistfulness in his voice. "I don't think it's been very healthy for Heidi to keep in touch with her son," I said. "She's younger than he is, now, and …" Then I shut up. The rest of the sad story was Heidi's to tell.

"Several days ago, Danny Prideaux came to me to ask if he can be my daytime man," Bill said suddenly, the change of topic took me off guard. Was he hiding something and almost told me?

I didn't make any comments and decided to go on with the conversation. That is when I realized that was Danny's big secret. "Huh. He already has a part-time job at the lumberyard."

"With two jobs, he thinks he can ask his young woman to marry him."

"Oh, wow! Danny's gonna ask Kennedy to marry him? That's wonderful. You know who he's dating? Kennedy, who works behind the bar at Merlotte's?"

"The one who killed her boyfriend." Bill seemed displeased by this bit of information.

"Bill, the guy was beating her. And she served her jail time. Not that you have any room to talk." I said giving him the look which he understood. "You hired him?"

Bill looked a little abashed. "I agreed to a trial period. I don't have enough work for a full-time person, but it would be very pleasant to have a part-time helper. I wouldn't have to ask you for help all the time, which I'm sure is inconvenient for you."

"I haven't minded making the occasional phone call," I said. "But I know you'd like to have someone you don't have to keep thanking. I wish Danny'd tell Kennedy what he's up to. Not knowing is making her have all kinds of bad thoughts about him."

"If they're going to have a real relationship, she has to learn to trust him." Bill gave me an enigmatic look and melted back into the trees.

Ouch, that was a straight forward comment to me. Regardless, my relationship with Eric is none of his business. I went back in the house and the kitchen was empty. Sounded like Bellenos and Dermot had gone upstairs to watch television; I caught the faint sound of a laugh track. I climbed halfway up the stairs, intending to suggest that Bellenos move his own clothes from the washer to the dryer, but I paused when I heard them talking during a commercial break.

"It's called Two and a Half Men," Dermot was telling his guest.

"I understand," Bellenos said. "Because the two brothers are grown, and the son isn't."

"I think so," Dermot said. "Don't you think the son is useless?"

"The half? Yes. At home, we'd eat him. Wither they prove to be worth to keep or they would be gone" Bellenos said.

I turned right around, sure I could put the clothes into the dryer myself. "Sookie, did you need us?" Dermot called. I should have known he'd hear me.

"Just tell Bellenos that I'm putting his clothes in the dryer, but he's responsible for getting them out. I think they'll be dry in …" I made some hasty calculations. "Probably forty-five minutes. I'm going to bed now." Though I'd had the nap, I was beginning to drag.

I barely waited to hear Dermot say, "He'll get them," before I hurried to the back porch to toss the wet clothes into the dryer. Then I went into my bedroom, shut the door, and locked it.

If the rest of the fae were as casual about cannibalism as the elf, Claude couldn't come back soon enough to suit me. Would that be a reason for the shortage of fairies? If they would eat each other less, they would have an over population then. I shivered just thinking on many others like Bellenos hunting in my land.

**Chapter 7 of Deadlocked coming up next. **


	2. Chapter 2

I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. I want to thank everybody who took the time to read the story and for the reviews here and in FB. I am definitely enjoying this and I hope you enjoy it too.

**Deadlocked re-write Chapter 7 **

Cara Ambroselli called me first thing Monday morning, which was not a great way to start the week. "I need you to come to the station so I can ask a few more questions," she said, and she sounded so brisk and awake that I could easily dislike her.

"I've told you everything I know," I said, trying to sound alert.

"We're going over everything again," she said. "I know you're as anxious as we all are to find out who caused this poor woman's death."

There was only one possible response. "I'll be there in a couple of hours," I said, trying not to sound sullen. "I'll have to ask my boss if I can be late to work."

That really wasn't going to be an issue since I was scheduled to work the later shift, but I was grumpy enough to drag my heels. I did call Jason to tell him where I was going, because I think someone always needs to know where you are if you're going into a police station.

"That's no good, Sis," he said. "You need a lawyer?"

"No, but I'm taking a number with me just in case," I said. I looked at the front of the refrigerator until I spotted the "Osiecki and Hilburn" business card. "Jason maybe we can have dinner together soon?" I asked him hoping that he would say yes. Jason has grown a lot and maybe he could give me some advice about Eric.

"Sure sis. Let me know when it's good with your working schedule. Can I bring Michelle?" he asked me and I could feel his anxiety building up.

"How about this time we make it for only you and me and next time we can plan it with her."

He was silent for a few seconds, but eventually agreed. There was no way I could talk about Eric in front of Michelle. After a few pleasantries and a promised dinner date we hanged up. I made sure my cell phone was charged. Just to cover all kinds of crises, I put the cluviel dor into my purse.

I drove to Shreveport mindlessly. My mind was definitely on Eric, Felipe and this woman that got killed. I hadn't had anything to do with the death of Kym Rowe, but I'd been involved in sufficient bad stuff to make me nervous when I came under official scrutiny.

Police stations are not happy places at the best of times. If you're a telepath with a guilty conscience, this unhappiness is just about doubled. I was so nervous that I was having a hard time keeping my telepathy under control. I could read everybody's mind here even though I really didn't want to; from guilty ones to accomplice to frustrated parents whose son got arrested for rape.

It was a positive treat to see T-Rex come out of a door, apparently leaving the building. He glanced my way, kept moving, but did a double take.

"Sookie, right?" Under the harsh light, his dyed platinum hair looked garish but also cheerful, simply because he was such a vital person.

"Yeah," I said, shaking his hand. Pretty, vamp's girl, from Bon Temps? He was having his own little stream of consciousness about me. "They call you in, too?"

"Yeah, I'm doing my civic duty," he said with a very small smile. "Cherie and Viv already came in."

I tried to smile in a carefree way. I didn't think I was very successful. "I guess we all got to help them find out who killed that girl," I offered.

"We don't have to enjoy it."

I was able to give him a genuine smile. After small talks here and there, I was ready to get this over with when Detective Ambroselli interrupted us.

Cara Ambroselli was a little dynamo. She asked me the same questions she'd asked me Saturday night, and I answered them the same way. She asked me a few new questions. "How long have you been dating Eric?" (He was no longer Mr. Northman, I noticed.) "Did you ever work in a strip club?" (That was an easy one.) "What about the men you live with?"

"What about them?"

"Doesn't Claude Crane own a strip club?"

"Yeah," I said warily. "He does."

"Did Kym Rowe ever work there?" I was taken aback. "I don't know," I said.

"You call Crane your cousin."

"Yeah, he is."

"We got no record of him being related to you."

It would be interesting to know what records they could possibly have about Claude, since he wasn't human. "He comes from an illegitimate birth," I said. "It's private family business."

No matter how many times she asked questions about Claude, I stuck to my guns. She eventually gave in to my determination, since there was really no way she could link Kym to Claude to me. At least, I hoped that was the case. This was something else I needed to talk to Claude about, when he returns from Faery.

I spotted Mike Coughlin, who was sitting a few desks away talking to Vince, the guy who'd watched the gate to Eric's community on Saturday night. I switched my attention to them, ignoring Ambroselli who was reading from several documents. I wasn't proud of snooping on other people's conversation, but this time I have an important motive.

Coughlin had asked Vince why he'd been substituting for Dan Shelley the night of Eric's party. "Dan was sick," Vince said instantly. I could tell his mind was full of agitation, and I wondered what was so scary. "He asked me to sit in for him. Said it was easy work. I needed the money, so I said sure."

"Did Dan tell you what was wrong with him?" Mike Coughlin was persistent and thorough, if not brilliant.

"Sure, he said he'd had too much to drink. I'd keep that to myself, normally, but we're talking about murder here, and I don't want to get into trouble."

Coughlin gave Vince a level stare. "I'm betting it was you called us to the scene," he said. "Why didn't you own up to it?"

"We're not supposed to call the cops," Vince said. "Dan said the vamp tips him big to keep his mouth shut about his doings. The vamp, that is."

"He's seen other girls in trouble?" There was an ominous undertone to Coughlin's voice.

"No, no! Dan woulda called that in. No, the extra money was just to keep reporters and just plain snoopy people away who'd pay to know who visits a vampire. This vampire, Eric whatever, he didn't want his girlfriend to catch grief about staying over at his place."

I hadn't known that. Eric has definitely done that for me. A knot formed in my throat and I tried hard to fight back my tears. He might not be perfect, but he always takes care of me. I closed my eyes, remembering our good times and I wanted those moments back. I want my Eric and I can't go around upset at him like I have been. I have been a bitch and maybe that is what has been pushing him away. I don't want to lose him as I would lose myself in the process. I love him too much.

Suddenly, I wanted to go Fangtasia and hug him. I wanted to feel him again with and without clothes.

"I believe we are done for now. We will call you if we need you again." Ambroselli said bringing me back to reality. After some pleasantries, I left the police station and went straight to Merlottes.

While I worked that night, I went over and over the events of Saturday at Eric's house. I served beers on autopilot. By the time I fell into bed, I found I couldn't remember any of the conversations I'd had with customers and co-workers.

Tuesday was another black hole. Dermot came in and out without saying much. He didn't look happy; in fact, he looked anxious. When I asked him a question or two, he said, "The fae at the club, they're worried. They wonder why Claude left, when he'll return, what will happen to them when he does. They wish they had seen Niall."

"I'm sorry about Niall's attitude," I said hesitantly. I didn't know if I should broach the subject or not. It had to be a painful one for Dermot, Niall's son, to be so pushed aside and disregarded.

Dermot looked at me, his eyes as pathetic as a puppy's.

"What's Faery like?" I asked, in a clumsy attempt to change the subject.

"It's beautiful," he said immediately smiling. "The forests are green, and they stretch for hundreds of miles. They're green and deep and full of life. The shoreline is stony; no white sand beaches! But the ocean is green and clear…. The sun is shiny and illuminates nature making it more alive. There is a rain forest that encompasses more than 30,000 acres of land. The peak itself is one of the highest in Faery, standing a little over 5,000 feet above sea level. Those that have climbed it say that the view is magnificent. I haven't done it, but I hope to have the opportunity to do it someday. It rains everyday in the top part of the forest and that is where the largest waterfall in Faery starts. It is a four tiered waterfall with the most majestic view I have ever seen. On each of the top three tiers there is a small pool formed and fairies swim there. The last tier is for the daredevils as it is where the waterfall plunges violently. I don't know of any fairy who would dare to jump down the last tier." He stood, lost in dreaming of his homeland. I wanted to ask a thousand questions, but I chose not to.

He shook himself, gave me a bleak look. Then he turned to go upstairs, probably to seek consolation in House Hunters International.

That night was notable only for what didn't happen. Eric didn't call me. I understood that his out-of-town company had the biggest claim on his time, but I felt almost as shoved aside and disregarded as Dermot. As far as I was concerned, the vampires of Shreveport weren't speaking to me, consulting me, or visiting me. Even Bill was conspicuously absent. Mustapha was presumably still searching for Warren. I missed Eric, badly. I kept playing in my mind Vince's words at the station. I know that if Eric wasn't here is because something is happening, but I hated to be left out. I wanted to know what was going on. Maybe I could help him for Felipe de Castro to leave town sooner rather than later. Yes, I definitely was missing him badly.

I made a creditable effort to leap out of bed with enthusiasm the next morning. I was rested, and I had to go to work, no matter what was happening in the supernatural world. Not a creature was stirring, not even an elf. I ate some yogurt and granola and strawberries, drank some coffee, and put on some extra makeup since I was still feeling unhappy in general. I took a few minutes to paint my fingernails. A girl's gotta have a little color in her life.

At the bustling post office, I used my key to empty the Merlotte's mailbox, which served Sam for both business and personal use. I riffled through the flyers that had been stuffed in the box and saw that the only bill worth worrying about was the electric bill. It soared in the summer, of course, since we had to keep the bar cool. I was almost scared to open it. I bit the bullet and slit the envelope. The total was bad, but not more than I expected.

Terry Bellefleur pushed open the glass door while I was tossing unwanted mail into the trash. He looked good: more alert, not as skinny, maybe. There was a woman with him. When Terry stopped to speak to me, she smiled. She needed some dental work, but it was a good smile.

"Sook, this here's Jimmie Kearney from Clarice," Terry said. "She raises Catahoulas, too." Terry loved his dogs, and he seemed to have overcome his bad luck with them. His latest bitch, Annie, had had her second litter of puppies. This time they'd been purebred. I'd heard Terry talk about Jimmie when he'd found a match for Annie, but I'd assumed Jimmie was a guy. She very much wasn't.

"I'm pleased to meet you," I said. Jimmie was younger than Terry. I put her at about forty. There were streaks of gray in her long brown hair, which hung nearly down to her waist. She wore baggy khaki shorts with a ruffled white peasant blouse and huaraches.

"I heard a lot about you," Jimmie said shyly. "You should come by Terry's and see the puppies. My Tombo is the daddy. They're just as cute as they can be. And we've got them all sold! We had to check out the homes they would go to, of course."

"Good job," I said. I was getting the information from Jimmie's head that she was over at Terry's a lot of the time. A lot. Just in my little peek, Jimmie seemed like an okay person. Terry deserved someone really nice; he needed someone really, really stable. I hoped she was both. "Well, maybe I'll get a chance to see those puppies before they go to their new homes. I'm glad I got to meet you, Jimmie. Terry, talk to you later."

Before I headed to the bar, I needed to check on Tara, who hadn't returned my calls. As if I called the devil, the phone rang with Tara's number in the calling ID.

"Tara! I have been calling you forever! How have you been?" I asked concerned about her. She was very close to the due date and I was excited for her.

"My water broke yesterday afternoon. I had my babies last night Sookie! They are keeping us here one more day and then we'll go home."

I gasped at the news, "I am so excited for you Tara. Congratulations for both of you."

"JB can't stop staring at them. It's unbelievable. We are very happy. I am calling everybody we know with the news so I have to hang up now, but we will chat more later with details Sookie."

We hanged up and I was suddenly feeling very happy for her. Today it seems to be a good day after all.

I went into Merlotte's feeling ridiculously happy. I just had time to put the mail on Sam's desk when Kennedy came in the employee door, and India was hard on her heels. Both of them looked pretty down in the mouth, but I wasn't having any of that. "Ladies," I said. "We are gonna have us a good day here."

"Sookie, I'd like to oblige, but my heart is breaking," Kennedy said pathetically.

"Oh Kennedy, it is not! You just ask Danny to share with you, you tell him what a man he is and how you love his hot body, and he'll tell his heap big secret. You got no reason to be insecure. He thinks you're fabulous. He likes you more than his LeBaron." I smiled brightly already anxious for Danny to propose to Kennedy, but I wasn't going to spoil the surprise.

Kennedy looked stunned, but after a moment a small smile flickered across her face.

"India, you'll meet a woman who's worthy of you any day now, I just know it," I told India, who said, "Sookie, you are as full of bullshit as a cow is of milk."

"Speaking of milk," I said, "we're going to hold hands and say a prayer for Tara, cause she's a new momma. Yesterday she had the babies."

And that was what we did.

It wasn't until I was halfway through my shift that I realized how much I envied Kennedy and Danny. They were together no matter what and I wanted the same with Eric. We were different in so many ways, but love should conquer those differences. Shouldn't it?

Just as I was distracted with my Eric, Alcide came in. He'd clearly been working; there was a hard hat impression in his thick black hair, and he was sweaty and dirty like most of the men who came in at midday in the summer. Another Were was with him, a man who was just as glad to be in the air-conditioning. They breathed simultaneous sighs of relief when they sank into the chairs at a table in my section.

Truthfully, I was surprised to see Alcide in Merlotte's. Our last conversation hadn't been exactly pleasant, and he'd never responded to the message I'd left on his cell phone. Maybe he was having a rough time too like Eric. It seemed that everybody was having a hard time lately. I went over with menus and a tentative smile.

"You must have a job close to here," I said, by way of greeting.

"We're getting ready for the new high school gym in Clarice," Alcide said. "We just finished. Sookie, this is Roy Hornby."

I nodded politely. "Roy, nice to meet you. What can I get for you-all to drink?"

"Could we have a whole pitcher of sweet tea?" Roy asked. He gave off the strong mental signature of a werewolf.

I said, "Sure, I'll just go get that." While I carried a cold pitcher and two glasses filled with ice over to the table, I wondered if the new people at AAA Accurate Surveys were all two-natured. I poured the first round of tea. It was gone in a few seconds. I refilled.

"Damn, it's hot out there," Roy said. "You saved my life." Roy was medium: hair a medium brown, eyes a medium blue, height a moderate five foot ten, slim build. He did have great teeth and a winning smile, which he flashed at me now. "I think you know my girlfriend, Ms. Stackhouse."

"Who would that be? Call me Sookie, by the way."

"I date Palomino."

I was so startled that I couldn't think of what to say. Then I had to scramble to get some words out. "She's sure a pretty young woman. I haven't gotten to know her real well, but I see her around."

"Yeah, she works for your boyfriend, and she moonlights at the Trifecta."

For a vampire and a Were to date was very unusual, practically a Romeo and Juliet situation. Roy must be a tolerant kind of guy. Funny, that wasn't the vibe he was giving off. Roy seemed like a conventional Were to me: tough, macho, strong-willed.

There weren't many "granola" Weres. But Alcide, though not exactly beaming at Roy, wasn't scowling, either.

I wondered what Roy thought of Palomino's nestmates, Rubio and Parker. I wondered if Roy knew Palomino had been part of the massacre at Fangtasia. Since Roy was a bit clearer to read than some Weres, I could tell he was thinking of Palomino going to a bar with him. Something clicked inside me, Palomino was the vampire going to the Were bar! I kept going on with my routing, serving the customers, hoping Roy and Alcide won't notice my worried face about Palomino. I wondered if Eric knew about Palomino's adventures.

The next time I passed Alcide's table, Roy had gone to the men's room. Alcide reached out to ask me to pause. "Sookie," he said quietly, "I got your message. Nobody's seen Mustapha yet, and nobody's heard from him. Or his buddy Warren. What did he say to you?"

"He gave me a message for you," I said. "You want to come outside for a second?"

"Well, all right." Alcide rose and walked to the door, and I trailed after him. There was no one lingering in the parking lot on a day this hot.

"I know you won't want to hear this, but he said Jannalynn was out to get me, and not to trust her," I said.

Alcide's green eyes widened. "Jannalynn. He says she's untrustworthy." I raised my shoulders, let them drop.

"I don't know how to take that, Sookie. Though she hasn't been herself for a few weeks, she's more than proved herself as my enforcer." Alcide looked both bewildered and irritated. "I'll think on what you've told me. In the meantime, I'm keeping my eyes and ears open, and you'll hear soon's I know something."

"He wants you to call him," I said. "When you're alone. He put a lot of weight on that."

"Thanks for passing along the message."

Though that wasn't the same thing as telling me he'd place the call, I made myself smile at him as we went back inside. He resumed his seat as Roy returned to the table. "And now, what can I get you hungry guys for lunch?"

Alcide and Roy ordered a basket of fried pickles and two hamburgers apiece. I turned in their order and made the rounds of my other tables.

Alcide and Roy ate with the hearty appetites of men who've been working outside all morning—men who also happen to be werewolves—and they drank the whole pitcher of tea. They both looked happier when they were full, and Alcide made a big effort to catch my eye. I went over, smiling, "Can I get you-all anything else? Some dessert today?" I said.

"I'm tight as a tick," Roy said. "Those were great hamburgers."

"I'll tell Antoine you said so," I assured him.

"Sam not here today?" Alcide said.

"Sam is out at the moment, but he will be back later on in the afternoon. Kennedy is on the bar today," I said.

"I bet Sam's with Jannalynn," Roy said, grinning significantly at me. I shrugged, tried to look politely indifferent.

Alcide was looking off into the distance as if he were thinking about something else, but I knew he was thinking about me. Alcide was feeling kind of lucky that he'd never managed to clinch our relationship, because he figured there was something fishy going on between Jannalynn and me. Alcide didn't consider that he himself could be the bone of contention, since Jannalynn had told him she was going to propose to Sam, and I was Eric's girlfriend. But we two women clearly had issues, and he had to wonder how that would affect the pack, which had become the most important thing in the world to Alcide. His thoughts made me realize that I was part of his pack too, but I hadn't show interest on it. In truth, I have been too busy that adding the pack problems would just too much for me to handle. Alcide was a good man and a great leader like his father once was. The pack has become his family and I wondered if the vampires would consider me part of their family. That is, if such thing existed.

"We do have issues," I told him while looking into his eyes "At least she does." Alcide looked startled but didn't elaborate. I could sense Roy was about to ask questions and I changed the topic without giving him the chance to speak, "How's the bar doing?" Hair of the Dog, the only Were bar in Shreveport, wasn't a tourist bar like Fangtasia. It was not exclusively for Weres, but for all the twoeys in the Shreveport area. "We seem to be pulling out of our slump, here."

"It's doing good. Jannalynn is doing a great job of managing it," Alcide said. He hesitated for a moment. "I heard that those new bars were falling off some, the ones the new guy opened."

"Yeah, I heard that, too," I said, trying not to sound too smug.

"Whatever happened to that new guy?" Alcide said, keeping his words guarded. "That Victor?" Though the world knew about the existence of vampires and the two-natured, their infrastructure was not common knowledge. It would remain a secret if the supes had their way. Alcide took an elaborately casual sip of the remaining tea. "I haven't seen him around."

"Me, either, for weeks," I said. I gave Alcide a very direct look, but I did my best not to out myself. The last think I needed is for that secret to come out. "Maybe he went back to Nevada."

I dug inside Roy's mind, trying to find any evidence of his knowledge about Victor, but his mind was empty. I was glad that Palomino has kept her mouth shut. I am sure that Eric would make her disappear otherwise.

"Your boyfriend doing well?" Alcide asked.

I came back to the here and now. "Eric's always well."

"Find out how that girl got into the house? The gal that got killed?"

"Nothing yet. The police keep interrogating and investigating, but without any results yet."

Alcide nodded and he didn't elaborate. He knew that Eric was a sensitive topic for me, especially now.

I smiled at them and immediately changed the topic. "You-all don't want any dessert? Let me get your check."

I grabbed the next table's payment on the way to the cashier. I processed their payment and returned to Alcide's table with their check. Alcide had pulled his wallet out of his pocket by the time I got back. They were working on a tight schedule on his project and he had to get back soon.

Roy had gone to the bar to talk to one of the men who worked at the lumber mill. Apparently they'd gone to high school together. When I bent over to put the check by Alcide, I inhaled his scent. It was a little sad to remember how attractive I'd found him when I first met him, how I'd allowed myself to daydream that this handsome and hardworking man might be my soul mate. But it hadn't worked out then, and now it never would. Too much water had passed under that particular bridge. Alcide was getting deeper and deeper into his Were culture, and further and further away from the fairly normal human life he'd managed to live until his father's disastrous attempt to become packmaster.

Yet, he deserves a good woman. One that will give him the stability he needs and the support within the pack too. I wished I could introduce him to one, but I knew fewer Were females than him. I know one thing for sure; whenever he finds that woman I'll be there to make sure she deserves him.

He handed me some bills and told me he didn't need any change, and Roy slapped his buddy on the back and returned to the table, and they prepared to go back out into the heat of the day to drive to another job in Minden on their way back to the home office in Shreveport.

After they left, I began to bus their table because I didn't have anything else to do. There were hardly any customers, and I figured D'Eriq was taking the opportunity to slip out back to have a smoke or listen to his iPod.

My cell phone vibrated in my apron pocket, and it was Sam, calling from his cell.

"What's up, boss?" I asked. "Everything's fine, here."

"Good to know, but not why I called," he said. "Sookie, this morning Jannalynn and I went down to Splendide to make a payment on a table she's buying." Ah so Sam was with Jannalynn after all.

"Okay," I said when Sam paused. "So, what's going on at Splendide?"

"It got broken into last night," he said, sounding oddly hesitant. After a small pause he continued, "The things you sold to Brenda and Donald … those things were dismantled on the spot, or taken."

I pulled out a chair and sat down in it abruptly. It was lucky no one was waiting for service for the next few minutes while Sam told me everything he knew about the break-in. Nothing he told me was illuminating. A few little items that had been in the display cases had been grabbed, too. "I don't know if you sold them anything small or not," Sam said.

"Was other stuff taken? Or just mine?"

"I think enough else was gone to kind of camouflage that the targeted stuff had come from your attic," he said, very quietly. I knew other people were around him. "I just noticed because Brenda and Donald pointed out your pieces to show me how they'd cleaned them."

"Thanks for letting me know," I said, strictly on autopilot. "I'll talk to you later, Sam." I shut my phone and kept to my seat for a moment, thinking furiously. That break in must be related to the cluviel dor.

A few minutes passed, but I didn't know how many. I was too busy thinking about too many things. Movement at the bar distracted me and I saw Danny was talking so earnestly to Kennedy that I could tell he'd finally told her why he'd been out of her sight lately. She leaned across the bar and kissed him. At least that was good news.

I made myself get up to carry the bin of dirty dishes back to the kitchen. Behind me, the door swung open. I looked over my shoulder to check on the size of the party and got yet another surprise.

Bellenos was standing in the doorway. I glanced around quickly, but no one—not that there were more than five people in the big room—seemed to be paying the elf any attention. They were not seeing the same creature I was seeing. I wonder who they did that. How could they look one way to my eyes, yet differently for the humans'?

Bellenos looked very strange in regular human clothes. I have seen him in a sort of kilt and a one-shouldered T-shirt. He looked around Merlotte's, slowly and warily. When he didn't spot anything threatening, he glided over to me, his slanting dark eyes full of mischief. "Sister," he said. "How are you today?" He showed his needle teeth in a big smile.

"I'm good," I said confused about this visit. "How're you?"

"Happy to be out of that building in Monroe," he said. "I see you are not busy. Can we sit and talk?"

"Yes," I said. "Let me clear this table." I cleaned it as fast as I could and sat down next to him. I wanted to talk as low as possible because I didn't want anybody to overhear our conversation. I also wanted to keep an eye on the few people in the room, just in case they needed something.

In the fae way, Bellenos took my hand. I wanted to snatch it back, but there wasn't any point in offending him. I just hoped this was not going to end up in Eric's ears because it could turn ugly. His bones stood out so much that his hand hardly looked human—which, of course, it wasn't. It was pale, freckled, and very strong.

Past his shoulder, I saw Kennedy glance our way. She shook a playful finger at me. She thought I was flirting with someone besides Eric. I gave her a stiff smile.

"There are too many of us crowded under one roof at Hooligans," Bellenos said.

I nodded.

"Claude is a leader. Dermot is not."

I nodded again, just to show I was following his conversation. He wasn't voicing any new ideas, so far.

"If you have any means of reaching Niall, now is the time to make use of it."

"I would if I could. I don't have any such secret." His slanting eyes were a bit disturbing close up.

"Is that the truth?" An auburn eyebrow rose.

"The truthful answer is that I really don't have any certain means of contacting Niall," I said flatly. "I'm not completely sure I would get in touch with him, if I had the ability."

Bellenos nodded thoughtfully. "The fairy prince is capricious," he said.

"That's for damn sure." Finally, we were in agreement.

"I'm sorry that you can't help," Bellenos said. "I hope nothing worse happens."

"Like what?" Dermott hasn't told me about anything bad going on there.

"Like more fights breaking out." He shrugged. "Like one of us leaving the bar to have some fun amongst the humans." That didn't sound like a good idea. The last thing we needed was for fairies to come under the human eyes. There is enough drama with the Weres and the vamps.

I suddenly remembered that Claude had brought me a letter from Niall, one he said he'd received through the portal in the woods. That was what he'd told me when he'd delivered the letter, if I was remembering correctly. "I could write a letter," I offered. "I don't know if it would reach him, but I can try."

I was sure Bellenos would press me for details, but to my relief he said, "You had better try anything you can think of. You don't know me well, but I'm telling the truth in this matter." Suddenly I felt bad. I think that Bellenos has felt my skepticism towards him and he was offended, if that could be possible.

"I don't doubt you," I said. "I'll do my best. And I have a question to ask you."

He looked politely attentive.

"A young woman, a woman at least part Were, came to my boyfriend's home a few nights ago," I said. "She was irresistible to him."

"Did he kill her?"

"No, but he drank from her, though normally he has very good self-control. I think this young woman was carrying a vial of fairy blood. She opened it when she got close to Eric to make herself attractive to him. She may even have drunk it herself so the blood would permeate her. Do you have any ideas about where the blood might have come from?" I regarded him steadily.

"You want to know if she got the blood from one of us?"

"I do."

Bellenos said, "It's possible a fairy sold blood without knowing what it would be used for."

I thought that was bullshit, but in the interests of getting an answer, I said, "Certainly."

"I'll inquire," he said. "And you send the letter."

Without further ado, he rose and glided out of the bar, receiving only a casual glance or two. I went back to the calendar to check, the one posted behind the bar. Danny had finally left to return to work, and Kennedy was actually singing to herself as she aimlessly shifted bottles and glasses around. She grinned at me as she "worked."

I went back to work, refilling ketchup and whatever else was out, or barely used. The work load was light and I had to find something to keep me occupied. Suddenly, I remembered Jason and I sat in the back of the bar to call him.

"Hey Jason! I hope I am not interrupting you at work," I said.

"It is always good to take a break. Is everything alright? It's not for you to call me in the middle of the day." His worried tone smoothed my heart.

"So far so good," I lied but I didn't want to worry him more. "What do you say about scheduling our dinner for tonight? " I asked hopeful that he would be willing to meet with me for one night without Michelle.

"Sure Sook. I love the way you bake pecan pie, like grandma did. Do you want me to bring something?"

I smiled at his smooth talking. Now I had to bake pecan pie for him. "No need to. Just come over hungry and in good spirits to talk to your sister" I said. I needed to talk to somebody. There were too many things going on around me.

"Sure sis. You know I am always there for you" he said. After making arrangements with Jason I hanged up. Now I felt more anxious than before. Should I or should I not do it?

I looked outside Merlottes and the hot sun was still bright, even though the afternoon was coming to an end. I wondered about Eric. Right now he was still dead to the world and soon he would be waking up. Does he miss me? His absence was silently killing me.

One of our alcoholics, Jane Bodehouse, showed up around five o'clock. When she'd gotten cut from flying glass during the firebombing a few weeks before, Jane had gotten sewed up and had returned to the bar within twenty-four hours. For a few days, she got to enjoy painkillers and alcohol. I'd wondered if Jane's son might be angry that his mom had gotten hurt at Merlotte's, but as far as I could tell, the poor guy had only a mild regret that she'd survived. After the bombing, Jane had abandoned her barstool in favor of the table by the window where she'd been sitting when the bottle came through the window. It was like she'd enjoyed the excitement and was ready for another Molotov cocktail.

I shook my head at my memories while I collected my purse and left the bar. I had a dinner to prepare for tonight.

Note: I hope you see our Sookie more back to herself and in character. I think the whole Tara having a baby storyline was not important, so it's pretty much gone. I eliminated a lot of none sense fillers and tried to show her feelings for Eric. Reviews are more than welcome. Let me know your thoughts!

**Chapter 8 of Deadlocked coming up next. **


	3. Chapter 3

I hope you enjoyed the previous chapters. I want to thank everybody who took the time to read the story and for the reviews here and in FB. I am definitely enjoying this and I hope you enjoy it too.

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of these characters. The original story and the characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I am only borrowing them for a little while.

**Deadlocked re-write Chapter 8 **

Every story has two sides, and we need to know the other side for this one…

Eric's POV

"I'm free," I remembered those words as if it was today. The feeling of freedom was new, yet it took over my heart and my soul. It was liberating! I will never forget Ocella' death! Sookie killed him and I will forever be grateful for that. The freedom that I felt that night was unique and that power of free-will was indescribable. That day, for the first time, I felt hope. For my damn luck, hope lasted only so long.

I left to Shreveport that night, leaving Sookie with the promise of my return _"I have to return to Shreveport to see about Pam, to arrange for the things I must do now that Ocella is dead. But as soon as I can, we'll be together again, and we'll make up for our lost time."_ Little did I know what was waiting for me in Shreveport.

I have seen Sookie after that day, but not in good terms. I wanted to keep her from finding out about Freyda, but Pam couldn't keep her mouth shut. Even after I commanded her not to tell her!

I have been trying my best to break the deal that Ocella made. I have been trying to get out of it, but Felipe de Castro keeps making it impossible.

Victor took full advantage of his position and made his daily goal to make my life a living hell. His death was nothing but a relief. Curiously, Felipe felt the same. Even if he didn't voice it out loud.

However, other things had come to the King's attention. While Victor's death was a relief for Felipe, now he saw me as a threat.

He was still investigating who helped me out to kill Victor as those are traitors to the crown. So far, he hasn't found any information, but for how long?

Felipe de Castro and my maker have ruined my life once again. I was resigned to just live to the fullest the short moments that I get with Sookie. To live every minute as if it was the last. But my maker made sure those moments were cut short. Only the gods know how much I hated him when he was alive. Now, I hate him even more.

I heard footsteps and I knew who that was. I didn't need to see his stupid smile. I wanted to erase it off his face. He entered the room with much enthusiasm and I knew that it won't go well for me.

"Well Eric, we are finished going through all of your assets. I must say that I am impressed of all the different accounts that you have, and the amount of money in them. I am thankful for your donations to the crown. I will make sure the money is well used."

I open my eyes and his smirk is the first thing I see. A thousand different ways to kill him crossed my mind within seconds. I looked around and the same walls that have confined me for the last few days and nights were still here.

The same old white walls without any decoration. The only features that decorated the walls were the silver pins that held silver chains. Silver chains that now held me prisoner at his mercy.

I strengthen up, as much as I could; trying not to pull on the chains. My hands were pulled apart until almost tearing my muscles. The silver burnt my skin, but I stared at Felipe de Castro's ridiculous attire to keep me from showing any pain on my face. His cape made him look like a cartoon from the medieval times and he definitely behaved like one.

Suddenly, my senses were in full alert. My vision blurred, and it was then when one of Felipe's guards brought a human. The woman's mouth was tied with a black cloth and her hands were tied with a piece of rope in front of her. Her face was dirty with tears and black makeup. The guard left the room leaving her here.

My fangs were instantly out and I launched at her full force, but the silver chains around my wrists held me in place. And they hurt. They hurt badly. I hissed from the pain.

I could barely control myself and my body continued pulling forward towards the woman while the silver kept digging deeper into my skin with each pull.

Felipe pulled her by her hair until she was in front of him.

He looked at me with malevolence in his eyes. "I heard that you are on a special diet. Three nights going on four without feeding. Or is it four going on five? I think I lost track." He said while his free hand followed his ridiculous autocratic gestures.

I growled out of hunger, anger and with a strong desire to drain the human.

He smiled at me and sank his fangs in the human's neck with extra force. The human struggled against him, but his hold kept her in place. All too soon, her body went limb and she fell on the floor. Dead.

The last few drops of blood were still coming out of her ripped neck, and were piling on the floor. The smell took over my body. My mouth was too dry and my body hurt with hunger. I could picture myself tasting that blood. I wanted to taste her.

The same guard entered the room and dragged the human's body out. Her piled blood was still there. On the floor. My entire vision zoomed in on the blood while the room stopped existing for me.

His non-welcome voice brought me out of trance and my eyes were fixed on him. He cleaned his bloody mouth while speaking to me.

"As I was saying before we were rudely interrupted with my meal… Now that the money subject is out of the way, we need to discuss other matters." He said while folding the bloody napkin and placing it inside his jacket's pocket.

"You have been trying to disregard your maker's contract, and wish, of your marriage to the queen of Oklahoma. You know that any respectable vampire would honor his maker's words. Unfortunately, now that your maker found his final death in your wife's hands, it is up to you and me to make sure his wish is fulfilled. Of course, in this case, you are not willing to do so… yet. This is why I made it my duty to help you prioritize your decisions.

"There are many things that I shouldn't have to tell you since you already know them, but I feel the obligation to do so just in case you forgot. A marriage between two vampires has more value than one with a human, and unfortunately Mees Stekhuss falls into that category.

"Freyda has graciously taken a like on you and for whatever reasons she wants you by her side. I understand that your age and experience are invaluable. Not to mention the power that comes with it. Personally, I know many others that would be better suitable for her, but who am I to refuse her wish.

"It is up to me to decide that either this marriage takes place or to grant your freedom. Of course, if I do the later you, then you could continue your marriage with Mees Stekhuss.

"I find terribly offensive that you took victor's life on your hands without my authorization. Not that I would ever authorize it anyway.

"But the fact that you dared to make such decision overpowering my word is considered betrayal to your kingdom, punishable with the final death. You went to great pain planning against victor, and you were not alone. That sole information shows me that I am surrounded by traitors. I am willing to bet that your progeny was involved, but who else was part of it?"

For the name of every God I have ever known, this man could talk. His need to be the center of attention boiled my almost dry blood inside my veins. But no matter what, I will never betray those that put their trust on me.

"Nobody. I already told you everything I know. You are using victor's death to punish me for it, even though you really didn't care for him. You knew what he was doing. Yet, you turned your head the other way and chose not to see."

Felipe paced across the room, impatiently. "That was not the question I asked." He stopped across the room from me and smiled.

"Phillip!" Felipe de Castro called and a vampire walked into the room. He stood in front of Felipe de Castro, waiting for his orders. "Eric seems sleepy. Wake him up."

Phillip walked out of the room at vampire speed and then returned with a bucket. Without wasting any time, he threw the contents on me. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for whatever was coming. The liquid burnt my skin at first touch, and continue burning as it slid down my naked body, piling up at my feet. My body was on fire! I cringed my teeth and growled loud. They were growls of pain. Phillip left the room without saying a word.

"Are you awake now Eric? The water mixed with pure silver should help you to stay awake." Felipe looked at me with a sadistic smile, enjoying the moment. I wanted to kill him. My mind was plotting a thousand different plans for his final death, and all of them were overdosed with pain. But there was one little inconvenience; all of my plans required me to be free.

"Good. Let's continue with our conversation. As I was saying, it is up to me to either make you comply with your maker's decision or to free you from it. I see myself liking the idea of your permanent relocation to Arkansas. I ensure you that Mees Stekhuss will be protected. I will personally protect her." His evil smile told me all the things that he was planning on doing to Sookie.

I growled, angry at his statement. How could he fucking dare to threaten my wife! I pulled the chains to break them off the walls, but to no avail. That only hurt my wrists, muscles, and now my bared bones.

"Let's go straight to the point Eric. Either you honor your maker's last wish or I would be forced to take over all of your assets which include your progeny, your wife, and all the vampires that report to you. Fangtasia, all of your houses, and your bank accounts are already mine. Would you like me to have Pam and Sookie too? For Sookie, she can spend her days and nights with me. My house is big enough and so is my bed. I still don't understand your obsession over her. Maybe I should taste her and see what the big deal with her is. Think about it and we will talk tomorrow again."

He left immediately, leaving me here for another day, week or who knows how long. One of us will have to give in, and that won't be me!


	4. Chapter 4

I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. I want to thank everybody who took the time to read the story and for the reviews here and in FB. I am definitely enjoying this and I hope you enjoy it too.

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of these characters. The original story and the characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I am only borrowing them for a little while.

**Deadlocked re-write Chapter 9 **

While Felipe de Castro was torturing the Viking, Sookie….

I stopped by the grocery store on my way home. I bought all the ingredients for dinner tonight including for the pecan pie. I smile remembering my grandmother. It made me sad that I will never eat one made by her again, but she thought me how to make it so at least I still have that.

As soon as I got home I went straight to the kitchen. I got the oven going and while dinner was cooking I sat down to write the letter for Niall. I don't know if this will work, but at least I'll try it.

* * *

As time went by, dinner was almost ready and after several writing attempts, I finally had a letter for Niall.

_Dear Great-Grandfather and Claude, _

_Bellenos and Dermot are worried that the fae at Hooligans are getting too restless to stay confined to the building. They miss Claude and his leadership. We are all afraid something bad will happen if this situation doesn't change soon. Please let us know what's going on. Love, Sookie._

I wrote Niall's and Claude's name on the envelope, and sealed it. I ventured outside to drop it off. The heat was a killer and the bugs were having a field day on my legs. I kept moving to keep them from draining me. Drops of sweat were already falling down my face and my hair was sticking on my neck.

I sigh in relief when I found the little clearing where the portal was. I frown to its size. It was smaller than the last time I came here. Last time it had been large enough to squeeze in a human body, but not this time.

Either the portal was shrinking naturally, or Niall resized it to prevent me from throwing more bodies into Faery.

I knelt before the patch of wavery air, which hovered about knee-high just above the blackberry vines and grasses. I popped the letter into the quavering patch, and it vanished.

I held my breath waiting for any sound or movement like the last time when I dropped the body, but nothing happened. Suddenly, I felt depressed with the deafening silence. Would I ever see Faery? Would I ever see my great-grandfather again?

I stood up and smiled at my own silliness. Why am I so curious about Faery? I made my difficult way back through the woods. I could hardly wait to strip off these sweaty clothes and jump in the shower. Dinner will be ready and Jason will be here soon enough.

At my arrival there were three uninvited visitors waiting for me. Two men and a woman. Now I regret not staying at the portal a few more minutes. They looked in the mid-forties and they were standing by a car getting ready to leave. Unfortunately, they saw me returning and that changed their plans.

"Hello", said the olive-skinned brunette with raccoon eye makeup. She was wearing a low-cut T-shirt, dark green with gold studs as a decoration, and white shorts. Her bare legs were heavily tattooed. She took a drag on her cigarette. "You Sookie Stackhouse?"

I stared at the trio and for some reason two of them looked familiar.

"I am. And you are?"

"We're the Rowes. I'm Georgene and this is Oscar. This man," and she pointed at the driver, "is Harp Powell."

The man standing by the driver's door had coppery brown hair and a short beard, and he was wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He wore khakis and a pale blue oxford cloth shirt with the sleeves rolled up, practically a summertime white-collar work uniform.

The other man was a real contrast. His jeans were stained, and his T-shirt said he liked pussies, with an oh-so-clever drawing of a Persian cat. Subtle, huh? I caught a whiff of otherness coming from him; he wasn't really human, but I didn't want to get any closer to investigate what his true nature might be.

I could hear trouble coming from their brains.

"I'm sorry?" I said. "Do I know you?"

"Kym's parents," the woman said.

And I regretted even more coming back to the house. I really got bad vibes from them. Their presence made me uncomfortable. This situation was giving me flashbacks. The Pelts. I shuddered just remembering them.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said. "But I'm not sure why you've come here."

"You talked to our girl before she died," Oscar Rowe said. "We just wanted to know what was on her mind."

The parents were sending mixed emotions and that made me curious. Instead of grief and regret, I was getting avid curiosity.

I turned slightly to look at their companion. "And you, Mr. Powell? What's your role here?" I'd been aware of his intense observation.

"I'm thinking of doing a book about Kym's life," Harp Powell said. "And her death." I could read his mind and his dark plan. He was thinking of writing a true-crime novel with pictures in the middle: Kym as a cute youngster, Kym in high school, Kym as a stripper, and maybe Kym as a corpse.

Bringing the Rowes with him was a smart move. Who could turn down distraught parents? But I knew Georgene and Oscar weren't anywhere close to devastated. The Rowes were more curious than bereaved.

"How long had it been since you saw her?" I asked Kym's mother.

"Well, she was a grown-up girl. She left home after she graduated from high school," Georgene said reasonably. She had stepped toward the house as if she were waiting for me to open the back door. She dropped her cigarette on the gravel and ground it out with her platform sandal.

"So, five years? Six?" I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at each of them in turn.

"It had been a while," conceded Oscar Rowe. "Kym had her own living to make; we couldn't support her. She had to get out and hustle like the rest of us." He gave me a look that was supposed to say he knew I'd had to get out and hustle, too—we were all working people, here. All in the same boat.

"I don't have anything to say about your daughter. I didn't even talk to her directly. I saw her for maybe five minutes."

"Is it true your boyfriend was taking blood from her?" Harp Powell asked.

"You can ask him that. But you'll have to go after dark, and he may not be too glad to see you." I smiled. Leave to Eric to scare the Jesus out of them. Maybe that would make them disappear.

"Is it true that you live here with two male strippers?" Powell persisted. "Kym was a stripper," he added, as if that would somehow soften me up.

"Who I live with is none of your business. You can leave now," I said, still smiling, I hoped very unpleasantly. "Or I'll call the sheriff, and he'll be here pretty quick."

With that, I went inside and shut and locked the door. No point in standing out there listening to questions I wouldn't answer.

The light on my phone was blinking. I turned the sound very low and pressed the button to play it. "Sister," said Bellenos, "no one here will admit to giving any blood to the girl who was killed, or giving blood to anyone at all. Either there's another fairy somewhere, or someone here is lying. I don't like either prospect." I hit the Delete button.

I heard knocking at the back door, and I moved to where I couldn't be seen. Harp Powell knocked a few more times and slid his card under the porch door, but I didn't answer. They drove off after a couple of minutes.

Though I was relieved to watch them go, the encounter left me depressed and shaken. Seen from the outside, did my life truly seem so tawdry? I lived with one male stripper. I did date a vampire. He had taken blood from Kym Rowe, right in front of me.

Maybe he just wanted answers for his book, but I didn't want anybody to point out some facts about my depressing life.

The oven's beep brought me back to reality and I rushed to take the food out. Pretty much everything was done and Jason would be here within thirty minutes. I left everything on the stove and rushed to take a quick shower.

* * *

A quick shower was not enough to relax me. I should have taken a bubble bath or something to tame the anxiety.

Within minutes, Jason arrived all hipper and ready for a nice meal. We sat in the kitchen table, and we said our prayers. He started devouring the food as if he had not eaten in days. I knew that Michelle cooked for him every day. I smiled at this. It felt good to have him here visiting.

We ate silently for a little while. My mind was running a thousand times per minute debating to whether open up to Jason or not. I wanted to talk to somebody, but would that be Jason? My heart was pumping really fast and my hands were sweating so much that I kept drying them off with the napkin.

"You know Sookie, this food is delicious. You sure learned from our grandmother", Jason said with half of his mouth full with food.

"And I believe that our grandmother thought you to not speak with the mouth full of food", I replied teasing him.

He smiled and once his mouth was empty he replied, "Yeah, I would have gotten a smack on my head for it. At least today I won't get any."

I laughed at his reply. After a few seconds, I stopped and I realized that this was the first time I honestly smiled in a very long time.

"Sook, I know you want to tell me something, but you are debating about it. Spill it out! It must not be that good when you are in so much doubt. Plus you have hardly touched your meal."

Only Jason would notice such a simple detail. I smile at him nervously. I breathed deep and I spilled it all out.

"Things are not going so well for me and I really need an outsider's perspective. I feel as if I were in a rollercoaster going downhill without breaks. And I don't want it to crash, but I can't find a way to stop it either."

"What do you mean Sook? Are you and the vamp having problems? I thought that you were going strong with him. You have lasted the longest with him and he seemed into you."

"Well, yes and no Jason." I took a deep breath and then continued, "I have done some things that I'm not proud of and I'm afraid of the consequences."

Jason looked puzzled. "What have you done sis?" He asked without taking his eyes off me.

"I broke the blood bond with Eric" I said looking down "I shouldn't have done that. Now I miss it." I confessed. Wow, I have just confessed what I have been so afraid so say out loud. And it felt bad.

Jason gasped and put the fork on the table. "So you guys are over then? You don't love him?" he asked incredulously.

"That is the problem. I love him. I love him with all my heart. I wanted to break it to make sure that the feelings I had for him were not influenced by the bond. Amelia helped me out. Now that the bond is not there, I feel the same way for him. I am in love with him and it hurts me that the bond is not there anymore. I want to take that moment back, but I can't." I said sadly.

Jason grabbed a napkin off the table and handled it to me. I looked at him puzzled but he made his case clear "clean your tears sook". A shockwave traveled around my body at my sudden realization that I was crying. I was crying and I couldn't stop the tears from coming down.

"I assume Eric is pissed at you for breaking the bond, but if you explain to him he would understand. Besides, you can always ask him to create the bond again." Jason said trying to be optimistic. I looked at him and without waiting any longer, I went ahead and told him everything else, including about Freyda.

Jason listened intently and didn't say a word. I cried my eyes out while I confessed to my sins. I didn't held back anything. And the moment I was done I felt as if a giant rock has been lifted off my chest. I could breathe better now.

Jason remained silent. He lowered his head and continued eating in silence. A few minutes later he put the fork down again and looked at me without saying a word.

"Oh for fuck sake just say it Jason!" I couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Your life is pretty fucked up Sook. I'm sorry if I'm blunt, but shit. You need to sit down with Eric and talk about all of this shit with him. You can't continue moving on waiting for some magical spell to fix things." Jason said glaring at me.

"Sook, lack of communication is the main problem! There won't be any relationship that will last if you don't communicate. Shit. Are you expecting him to read your mind Sook? No pun intended there. But how are you expecting him to know what's going on in your life if you keep secrets from him?" Jason shook his head as he drank his tea.

"I'm sure that Eric has his secrets too and that is what is damaging the relationship Sook. If you are going to be with him, you must trust him with everything. If you can't, then get out of that relationship."

I look down at the table listening to my brother's speech, and whether I liked it or not, he was right.

"Sook, I'm no expert on relationships. Heck, you know that I fucked almost every woman in Bon Temps and the towns nearby. Singles, married, divorced, widowed. You name it. But with Michelle is different. I feel like I can trust her one hundred percent. It doesn't matter how bad my story is, she is there to listen. And she doesn't judge me."

Oh shit! More tears streamed down my cheeks listening to Jason. I had this with Eric. I did. And I don't know if I have it anymore.

Jason handled me another napkin as he continued with his lecture. "If Eric is too proud to sit down and talk to you, then you do it! Grab the bull by the horns sis!"

Suddenly, Jason started to raise his voice, "There is another problem I see here sis. Now you have some problems with him being vampire. Let me tell you, you met him as a vampire and accepted him back then, so why the change of mind?" he breathed deeply trying to control his temper.

"Sook, before you judge other people, you should look at yourself and me. You can read minds and that is something that nobody else can do. So you aren't all the way human. Now look at me. I shift on every full moon!"

Jason was already steaming and pointing the finger against the table at each statement.

"What the fuck? But you know what? Michelle accepts me just the way I am. She doesn't judge me. Can we have kids in the future? We don't know. I'm a were-panther now, so I don't know if I'm screwed up. But Michelle doesn't care! What if she gets pregnant, are we going to have kittens? We don't know, but Michelle will accept whatever happens. And do you know why Sook? Because she loves me. That's why. If you love Eric the way you say you do, then you would not question his nature."

I couldn't stop crying. I wanted to defend myself. Heck, argue against Jason. But I couldn't. I felt so guilty.

"Jason, I'm having problems accepting myself as part fairy. I just wanted to be Sookie. A normal human living a normal life." I said between sobs.

"Well sook, blame grandma them. She was the one that fell for a fairy to begin with. If she hadn't done that, then no fairy blood would be running on our veins. Well, your veins. Mine seems non important to the fairy community."

"Jason"

"No Sook. If you are going to point fingers then you must point your finger to me too. Your brother. Your blood."

"Jason"

"Don't Jason me! What is it Sook, are you looking down at me now that I'm a shifter? If so, you aren't any better than those that follow the Fellowship of the Sun group."

Jason was fuming. I haven't seen him so angry before. And my heart hurt even more because he was right. I can't point my fingers against him, or me, or Eric. Oh Eric. I wish he was here right now. I would hug him and not let go.

"I'm sorry Jason. I didn't mean to hurt you, and you are right. I can't do that. I must accept myself as part fairy and others for what they are. We all have the same rights."

"You fix that shit, and then you must talk to Eric and fix that shit too. If you are going to be with him, you must accept him and his political world as part of yours. Your life isn't perfect, but he accepted you without asking questions. Heck, Eric accepted me as a dumbass human and now as a dumbass panther."

Jason shook his head several times in disappointment. "I can't believe you Sook. Of all the people, you should know how it feels to be different. Remember when all the kids at school discriminated against you for being different? And even now!"

Jason lifted his hands and brushed them against both sides of his head. He breathed deeply several times. I could tell he was angry at me and to no avail. I have been an idiot. I'm an idiot.

"I owe you an apology Jason" I murmured.

"No. You owe Eric an apology." He said without a second thought.

"Yes I do."

"Yes you do."

We remained silent for a few minutes, but they felt like an eternity. "would you like some pie? I made it for you." I said breaking the long silence.

He shook his head and remained silent. I went to the kitchen anyway and brought it to the table with a couple plates and spoons. He didn't eat it. He just sat there silently. The tension in the room was heavy. I could cut it with the knife.

Jason stood up and walked to the door.

"Jason?"

"Sook, I need some time alone to think and to calm down. Besides, you have things to do too. Before I forget, I wanted to tell you that we are closing in on the wedding date. We are going to pin it down tonight. We are thinking in a couple of weeks. I'll give you more details some other day. Tonight is not a good night for it. I'll talk to Michelle for the wedding to be at night time so that you can bring Eric, your husband."

I was shocked and speechless. I wanted to say so many things but nothing came out of my mouth. Jason left, and here I was, wanting to talk to Eric desperately. Maybe if I go to Fangtasia to see him? No. We need to talk in private and Fangtasia is not a good place for it. I need to plan this. I must see him soon before it's too late. I don't want to miss him.

NOTE: And here we go. This chapter is the one that separates the story from CH's. I'm trying to get the old Sookie back to her senses. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. There are more chapters to come! Remember, comments and likes are more than welcome. Tell me what you think about the story. Are you enjoying it?


	5. Chapter 5

I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter. I want to thank everybody who took the time to read the story and for the reviews here and in FB. I am definitely enjoying this and I hope you enjoy it too.

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of these characters. The original story and the characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I am only borrowing them for a little while.

**Chapter 5 **

_**While Sookie was having a heart to heart conversation with Jason... **_

**ERIC POV**:

Two days has passed since the last time Felipe de Castro tortured me. Nobody has come here. I have been left alone, chained to the walls and starving.

If I fell to my dead sleep, then the chains would cut off my wrists. This was the reason I have kept myself awake during the daytime to prevent it. Growing them back would be a slow and painful process which I don't wish to go through.

However, tonight I woke up thinking about it as the only solution to get me out of here. Let the silver cut my wrists. I would go away for a couple of months until I grow them back. Then, I would come back and fight Felipe de Castro. I don't know what he could do while I'm on hiding growing my limbs, but that is a risk that I would have to take.

I have a plan for tonight. Right before the sunrise; I will cut my wrists and escape from here.

I won't be able to go too far away, but I could always dig up a hole and bury myself for a few days. All I need is to feed. I'm a survival. I can do this!

I haven't fed in who knows how many days, but as soon as I get out of here I will drain a few humans. The thought made me hungrier.

I looked down at my naked body and I could see the damage done to it. I was slowly deteriorating. The muscles were drying up. Maybe that was what Felipe de Castro wanted; to turn me into a living mummy.

Unable to walk or move.

No. I couldn't let him do that to me. I would rather lose my limbs.

I wondered what Pam has been doing. I knew she has been distressed because I could feel it through our bond. I have kept her from feeling what I was going through. She didn't even know my location. I didn't want her to lose control or to risk her life. I needed her with her head clear and on the business. She knew I was a survival. She knew I would find a way out of this.

A sudden feeling of discomfort jerked me out of concentration. It was Pam. She was in distress. Something was happening to her and I wasn't there to help her. I closed my eyes and prayed to whatever god was out there to help her.

It had been maybe a couple of hours and Pam continued sending me her distressed feelings. I was growing impatient. I couldn't concentrate here. Maybe I should cut my wrists and escape from this place now. It wasn't sunrise yet and Felipe might have his vampire guards here. I didn't know if I could fight them under the physical state I was in.

Pam's signals grew stronger as if she was getting closer to me. I knew she couldn't sense me because I blocked the bond on my side. How could she get closer?

I heard on the distance followed by a few sets of steps a few seconds afterwards. Those steps were coming into the building or whatever this place was.

And I felt Pam. She was actually here.

I straighten up a little bit. I didn't want her to see me defeated. I didn't want her to see me like this.

She wasn't alone. But the question was quickly answered as they entered the room. Felipe de Castro brought her here.

There were five male vampires holding her down and two of them had multiple visible bruises. I wanted to smile at the scene, but I didn't. Pam had been defending herself. She was a fierce fighter and this proved it.

Pam looked scared. She looked at me and for a split of a second she was horrified by my appearance.

"Eric" Pam said followed by a punch on her stomach by one of her holding guards. She was left breathless.

A sudden realization hit me like a million volts lightening falling on my head. They wanted to torture Pam too. They wanted to do the same to her.

No. I couldn't let them do this.

"Your Majesty…" I started to say, but he cut me off immediately.

"Silence Eric. I'm a man of my word and I'm here to prove it to you." He said as he waived his hand in a fashionable way.

They turned and left the room. All of them. Taking Pam with them.

They went to a nearby room. I could hear the commotion.

I tried to break loose. I pushed my wrists against the silver chains to cut the bone. The pain was almost intolerable, but I had to get lose and somehow free Pam too. I didn't want them to do this to her.

A few minutes had passed and the silver was still eating out the bones. Just a little bit more.

I bit my tongue to prevent any involuntary screaming. Yet, out of nowhere, Pam scream echoed the room.

Followed by another scream. And another one. And another one.

For the first time in centuries, I was left immobile. I froze. My immobile heart jumped in accelerated pumps receiving Pam's feelings through our blood bond. She was in deep pain, scared and pissed as hell.

What the fuck were they doing to her? I panicked.

Now I had more reasons to remove these silver chains off my wrists. I must help her.

A few minutes had passed when Felipe de Castro entered the room with a smile plastered on his face. He was holding a piece of cloth on his hand. And it was bloody.

He approached me while he kept his eyes on my wrists. Now he knows about my plan. Fuck.

Without saying a word, he opened the bloody piece of cloth for my viewing. It held Pam's toes. All ten of them.

If I had a beating heart, it would have stopped working. My blood left my body. At least, whatever blood I had left.

I growled loud. My fangs were dying to rip his throat. My hands wanted to smash his head into thousands of tiny pieces.

I hated him. With this, he has sealed his death. It could take me one day, a week or a century, but I will be the one giving him his final death. The same goes to Freyda, fucking Queen of Oklahoma.

"I believe I hold your attention now… Eric." Felipe de Castro said with his sarcastic, thick Spanish accent. Bastard!

"I will do it," I said without a second thought.

Felipe de Castro tilted his head, looking at me as if I had grown a second and a third head. He smiled in triumph.

"I didn't hear you well Eric. What exactly is it that you will do?" mocked Felipe.

"I will marry Freyda," I said looking at him straight into his eyes.

Felipe de Castro's face was of a winner. He smiled showing me his fangs. He was beaming with happiness.

After a few seconds, he recovered and looked at me straight into the eye. "Next will be Sookie, and I don't believe a human can recover from missing limbs. Make sure to remember that."

Felipe de Castro called one of his guards and within a second he was by his side. "Bring our friend Pam." The guard nodded and left. Two guards returned dragging Pam. She couldn't balance her body to a standing position. They positioned her on the floor and Pam didn't look at me.

"Free him" Felipe de Castro said and the guards immediately removed the silver chains off me. I fell to the floor. My muscles betrayed me once again.

I dragged my body towards Pam. Slowly.

Two other guards entered the room with 2 humans and threw them on the floor. They were unconscious.

"At least this small snack will help you to get on the way to recovery. In two nights I will visit you in Fangtasia, and we will finalize the contract of your marriage to Queen of Oklahoma."

And with that, he was gone followed by his guards.

I dragged my unresponsive body across the floor towards the humans. A snail would be faster than me. I growled with frustration.

Pam dragged herself faster, and with one smooth motion she threw me one of the humans towards me. I grabbed him and I drained him without hesitating.

The instant relief on my body felt amazing. My decaying muscles started to come back to life. My bones healed back to their original position.

My skin burnt as it still held some the left over silver residues from the bucket of infested water.

I turned my gaze to Pam who was still not looking at me. I stood up, slowly. It took me a few seconds to recover the balance, but that didn't stop me from going to Pam.

I put my hands around her face and push it up until her eyes met mine. Her face was stained with her bloody tears. "I am sorry Pam. This should have never happened to you."

She gave me a small smile. "All I care is that you are well. I have been desperately looking for you. Felipe must die." She said without hesitation.

I put my finger on her mouth to silence her, "not here" and she nods. I spotted the piece of bloody cloth that held Pam's toes on the floor. I checked it and luckily, her toes were still there. I brought them to her, and with her help we try to put them in place the best we could. I grabbed the second human and brought it to Pam. "Drink. This will help to attach your toes instead of having to grow them back."

She shook her head denying the feeding, "you are weak Eric. You need the strength." She lifted her hands and cleaned my bloody face. I hadn't realized that I was crying.

"No. I will survive this. You need to feed now. It's an order. I want your toes attached to your body." I growled at her and we started the glaring pissing contest, but I didn't back down. I didn't give her any other options.

She sank her fangs on the human while I helped her to hold the toes in place. Instantly, a thin tissue started to form a link to the loose toes. I knew that this could go either way and I hoped this plan would work.

She drained the human and threw it to the side. I held her on my arms, and with a lot of effort I lifted her. I carried her out of that room and away from there. Far away for nobody to find us.

**Note: I hope that you are enjoying Eric's POV. The Viking is smart and he will come up with a plan to save Pam, Sookie and himself. So, hold on to your seats because this will turn into a bloody battle. Please review/comment. Let me know what you think!**

**Chapter 6 coming up next. **


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